It’s woodworking safety week. I know, I’ve been planning for months. This morning I finished decorating the safety tree, I hung the red halogen safety lights all over the outside of the shop. My wife is wearing her safety dress and I am drinking decaffeinated coffee this morning, because someone said it was safer.

These days there’s a “week” for everything. We just wrapped up “earth week”, already the third or fourth one this year it seems, which used to be just a day until NBC decided they liked the green peacock logo so much it never goes away. There’s a week to remember every good or bad thing that has ever happened, a week to build awareness of everyone’s favorite causes… Major sporting events are now week long affairs with names like “Speed Week” and “Naked Skeet Shooting Week”.

We only get 50-some weeks in a year and it seems like more than that are now set aside by someone to build our awareness of something, and it’s growing fast. I have a calendar that’s 36 pages long because there are now more weeks than there is year.

Not that they aren’t all worthy causes. I mean, someone has to take a week off to think about the ozone hole. And anybody who’s watched Blue Collar Woodworking knows we are very concerned with chlorofluorocarbons. (I make my wife put a trash bag over her head while she applies harispray.)

The point I’m making is that safety is a way of life, we think about it every minute of every day while we’re in the shop. Do we really have to take a week now and think about it harder?

What’s his name from the Discovery Channel show “Dirty Jobs” just released a video where he makes the case for saying “safety third” instead of “first”, not because he thinks it isn’t important, but because he wants to further complicate things with a new slogan. His point is that we can over think things and then they lose their meaning. We become complacent.

But, since this is “Safety week” and I don’t want to run the risk of being ostracized by my fellow woodworking activists, I’ll make a contribution to the growing list of safety related posts on the internet…

At the Stumpy Nubs Workshop we like to keep things simple. We have a sign that reminds us of basic safety rules, prominently displayed so that anyone who feels a blade cutting into their flesh can look up and see where they went wrong.

Stumpy’s 5 Basic Safety Rules:

1. Beer can leave stains on the cast iron tools, and blood can leave stains on the wood. So no drinking.2. We laugh at you for all sorts of things, how you look in safety glasses doesn’t matter.3. If you wear ear plugs, you can pretend you don’t hear the boss. So, win-win…4. If you leave something where someone will trip over it, that person will be allowed to poke you in the eye.5. Keep your eyes on the spinning blade or bit at all times. Chicks dig scars, but shredded fingers… not so much.

Anyone who wants a higher resolution copy of our poster, just send me your email address via Personal Message, Twitter or Facebook and I’ll send you one! Then sit back and have a cold (safe) one, because it’s safety week, my friend!

34 comments so far

Hey, Stumpy, when I was in the working world (the real one, the one I used to get paid for) we used to call those that used to just stand around the ‘Safety Committee’. The premise was, and likely still is, if no one moves, no one gets hurt… it was true, they didn’t but not much work got done either!

btw, great show, keep it up. No standing around now, ya hear?

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hey Stumpy,loved your last show man that jig is awesome .i like safety and you got to do it your self. There will always be accidents don’t mean that someone was not careful or stupid they happen. I like your rule #5 being a old bull rider back in my younger days the safety rule was dont take your eyes off the bull. table saws and bits are like that i dont want to take my eyes off it. dont think they are as forgiving as bulls were and thanks for what you do for the wood working community know you guys arent getting rich off what you do but some times a thank you is good to hear so thanks Sumpy.

The only things posted in my shop are the calendar and a drill and tap chart. I figure if I have not figured out what is safe by now, I may have forgotten it anyway. I would ask what a yooper safety dress is, but Iam afraid you would answer, and my imagination is way out in left field now. Thank you for another thoughtand I am going to celebrate another home shop week, by myself without any sponsors or assistants.

We all take risks. You have to to live. When you get in your car to go to work all the way to running that saw. Just think about what your doing and take as little risk as possible. Your human use your brain. Its nobodies fault but your own.
KEEP THE GOVERNMENT OUT OF IT!

National Safety Week is sponsored by the National Safety Council which is not a government agency

March 4-10, 2012: National Consumer Protection Week1st Week of March: Save Your Vision WeekThird Week of March: National Poison Prevention WeekLast Week of April: National Volunteer WeekVaries in April: Crime Victims’ Rights WeekLast Week of April: National Park WeekThird Week of May: World Trade WeekThird Week of May: National Hurricane Preparedness WeekWeek prior to Memorial Day: National Safe Boating WeekVaries in June: National Dairy Goat Awareness Week Third Week of July: Captive Nations WeekVaries in September: Minority Enterprise Development WeekThird Week of September: National Farm Safety and Health WeekVaries in September: National Historically Black Colleges and Universities WeekWeek of October 9: Fire Prevention WeekWeek of 2nd Sunday in October: National School Lunch WeekWeek of Third Sunday in October: National Forest Products WeekThird Week in October: National Character Counts WeekWeek prior to Thanksgiving: National Farm-City WeekWeek of Thanksgiving: National Family Week

I observe Woodworking Safety Week June 18-24 and lock the shop up tight that week to prevent any injuries from happening. This also happens to be the week that I am gone to the annual Naked Skeet Shoot…..

36 U.S.C. § 104 — Carl Garner Federal Lands Cleanup Day (First Saturday after Labor Day)36 U.S.C. § 105 — Child Health Day (The President is requested to issue each year a proclamation designating the first Monday in October as Child Health Day)36 U.S.C. § 106 — Constitution Day and Citizenship Day (September 17)36 U.S.C. § 107 — Columbus Day (The President is requested to issue each year a proclamation designating the second Monday in October as Columbus Day.)36 U.S.C. § 109 — Father’s Day (Third Sunday in June)36 U.S.C. § 110 — Flag Day (June 14)36 U.S.C. § 111 — Gold Star Mother’s Day (Last Sunday in September)36 U.S.C. § 113 — Law Day, U.S.A. (May 1)36 U.S.C. § 114 — Leif Erikson Day (The President may issue each year a proclamation designating October 9 as Leif Erikson Day.)36 U.S.C. § 115 — Loyalty Day (May 1)36 U.S.C. § 116 — Memorial Day36 U.S.C. § 117 — Mother’s Day (Second Sunday in May)36 U.S.C. § 118 — National Aviation Day (August 19)36 U.S.C. § 119 — National Day of Prayer (First Thursday in May)36 U.S.C. § 120 — National Defense Transportation Day (The President is requested to issue each year a proclamation designating the third Friday in May as National Defense Transportation Day.)36 U.S.C. § 124 — National Freedom Day (February 1)36 U.S.C. § 125 — National Grandparents’ Day (The President is requested to issue each year a proclamation designating the first Sunday in September after Labor Day as National Grandparents Day.)36 U.S.C. § 127 — National Korean War Veterans Armistice Day (July 27 of each year until 2003)36 U.S.C. § 128 — National Maritime Day (May 22)36 U.S.C. § 129 — National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day (December 7)36 U.S.C. § 134 — Pan American Aviation Day (The President may issue each year a proclamation designating December 17 as Pan American Aviation Day.)36 U.S.C. § 135 — Parents’ Day (Fourth Sunday in July)36 U.S.C. § 136 — Peace Officers Memorial Day (The President is requested to issue each year a proclamation designating May 15 as Peace Officers Memorial Day in honor of Federal, State, and local officers killed or disabled in the line of duty.)36 U.S.C. § 140 — Stephen Foster Memorial Day (The President may issue each year a proclamation designating January 13 Stephen Foster Memorial Day.)36 U.S.C. § 141 — Thomas Jefferson’s birthday (April 13)36 U.S.C. § 142 — White Cane Safety Day (The President may issue each year a proclamation designating October 15 as White Cane Safety Day.)36 U.S.C. § 143 — Wright Brothers Day (December 17)36 U.S.C. § 144 — Patriot Day (September 11)